Eyjafjalla

­­Update: Eyjafjallajökull volcano has enter a paused phase and is no longer emitting ash but only a steam plume. We have consequently stopped the daily forecast which ­will be re-started in case of reawakening­.

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The eruption ­plum­e from­ Eyjafjalla volcano has caused an unprecedented disruption of the European airspace and impor­tant so­cioeconomic­ co­nsequences. The effusive activity started on 20 March 2010 evolved to explosive on April 14, generating a 3 to 8 km height erupti­v­e ­column that lasted for more than one week. Winds directed volcanic ash towards the heart of Europe, one of the denser air traffic areas wor­ldwide.

 

 


Fall3d simulations­

These are simulations of the eruptive cloud for the 14 to 20 April weeklong period. Simulations have been done at the Earth Science Department of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center running the Fall3d ash dispersal model in the MareNostrum supercomputer.

 

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NOTE: simulations assume provisional inputs available during the eruption. They assume a daily constant column height and a Gaussian granulometric distribution with 9 particle classes ranging from 1milimeter to 1 micron. Further refinement of input data can alter the results substantially.